Name: Where Sleeping Girls Lie
Rating: 4.28448275862069 (29 reviews)
ISBN: 9781250800855

Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

Where Sleeping Girls Lie

Lindsay

I write to young girls who feel so much anger, and need desperately for someone or something to tell them their rage is important, and that the capacity to heal from deep wounds is not at all impossible. While writing this book, I kept thinking of Oluwatoyin Salau and women like her who deserve so much more than this world gives them.

My motto: Do the bare minimum necessary to keep your scholarship as well as your sanity

There was no instruction manual for ridding yourself of your own self.

Her aunt used to say that the rain had the ability to wash away your sins. It was funny, living in England most of her life, she’d have thought all that rain would have already done the job by now.

“They say terrible things are done in darkness, but terrible things are also done in a light too blinding for anyone else to look at directly.”

There was something awkward about studying in the presence of others. It felt like they’d judge your methods and finally see through you. See that you were mediocre and not as smart as they might’ve thought.

but I’ve been told that was a lie, so I guess

I’m still stumbling around that dark room, searching for that switch.

I don’t sleep anymore, and my heart hasn’t beaten in years.

But the thing about grief was that even one hundred good days were sometimes weighed down by an overwhelming guilt of forgetting.

Keep swimming. Or if that’s too hard, at the very least, float.

𓆩 𓆪

Not all her feelings reflected reality and not everyone needed saving.

I am anticipating the prospect of plant horror, my friend

“I want to be a botanist when I’m older. Unlike people, plants are honest. If they’re hungry, they tell you.”

“How about we play a game of truth instead,” she said, her voice bouncing off the walls and rippling along the surface of the pool.

He raised an eyebrow, looking intrigued, as he moved towards her.

“How does one play truth?” he asked, with a sly smile.

But as she often reminded herself, swimming wasn’t all there was to life. At times, when swimming was hard, floating was good enough.

“I never understood the logic behind rock paper scissors – I feel like, surely a rock could break through paper, especially if it’s one of those ones with really jagged edges. Also, scissors cutting through paper doesn’t mean the paper is defeated; you aren’t broken by a single tear or cut; what message are we sending to children—”

Whenever she’d watch a movie or read a book where a boy would make a huge declaration of love like that, she never found it romantic. The opposite: she found it disturbing. Almost like the girl was cornered, forced to go along with the master’s puppet show in order to not upset him.

Parents lie and tell you that they love their children the same, but they don’t. They always have a favourite. [...] Parents had their favourites, whether they wanted to admit it or not.

I'm so terrified that the one that I can relate to the most is a dead character

I’ve developed an unhealthy habit. Scrolling the deep dark throes of online forums. I didn’t start off searching for him. It was just a way to pass time, really. People post all sorts on there. They’ve even found missing persons from these posts alone. They post other things too…things I relate to now, I guess. So I thought, why not? Sade won’t speak to me, but maybe someone who gets it might.

In Where Sleeping Girls Lie—a YA contemporary mystery by the New York Times-bestselling author of Ace of Spades that explores grief, assault, and the ways in which institutions fail to protect those in their care —a girl new to boarding school stumbles upon dark secrets and coverups after her roommate disappears It’s like I keep stumbling into a dark room, searching for the switch to make things bright again. To make me remember. But the switch isn’t there. Was it there before? Sade Hussein is starting her third year of high school, this time at the prestigious Alfred Nobel Academy boarding school. After being home-schooled all her life and feeling like a magnet for misfortune, she’s not sure what will happen. What she doesn’t expect though is for her roommate Elizabeth to disappear after Sade’s first night. Or for people to think she had something to do with it. With rumors swirling around her, Sade catches the attention of the most popular girls in school – collectively known as the ‘Unholy Trinity’ – and they bring her into their fold. Between learning more about them - especially Persephone, who Sade finds herself drawn to - playing catch-up in class, and trying to figure out what happened to Elizabeth, Sade has a lot on her plate. It doesn’t help that she’s already dealing with grief from the many tragedies in her family. And then a student is found dead. The more Sade investigates, the more she realizes there’s more to Alfred Nobel Academy and its students than she realized. Secrets lurk around every corner and beneath every surface...secrets that rival even her own.

This book is a lot to process. It dives into some really heavy themes, and somehow you'll find yourself aching for the characters and wishing they didn't have to endure such pain. It can genuinely unnerve you at times, though it never quite crosses the line into unreadable, and the author handles a deeply complex background story with a surprising amount of grace. What keeps me anchored through all the darkness is its human element. The slow-burn friendship is wonderful, and the subtle chemistry between Sade and Persephone is an absolute delight to follow. It’s an upsetting kind of story that stays with you long after you've finished, but the emotional payoff makes it entirely worth it.

Probably will try to read another book from the same author.

This book is a lot to process. It dives into some really heavy themes, and somehow you'll find yourself aching for the characters and wishing they didn't have to endure such pain. It can genuinely unnerve you at times, though it never quite crosses the line into unreadable, and the author handles a deeply complex background story with a surprising amount of grace. What keeps me anchored through all the darkness is its human element. The slow-burn friendship is wonderful, and the subtle chemistry between Sade and Persephone is an absolute delight to follow. It’s an upsetting kind of story that stays with you long after you've finished, but the emotional payoff makes it entirely worth it.

Probably will try to read another book from the same author.

I liked this book more once I got further into it (isn’t that usually the case). It was gripping and tackled a lot of important and relevant themes. I liked the twists but I don’t think this hit me as hard emotionally as I think it does with most people. Am I desensitized or heartless? We may never know. Overall, a good book. 

Liv Markle

i know i don't personally do half stars but treat this like an unofficial 3.5. i think i got a bit lost in the sauce in the middle with all the interpersonal drama. but at the same time i 

 why it was that way and the messaging is SO important.

ash (smokedshelves)

i know i don't personally do half stars but treat this like an unofficial 3.5. i think i got a bit lost in the sauce in the middle with all the interpersonal drama. but at the same time i see why it was that way and the messaging is SO important.

Ace of spades has been rotting away on my shelves for years and just haven’t got to it, I read this one first cause of a bookclub and im so glad i did and now Ace Of Spades has been bumpt up on my TBR cause Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé writing is beyond this world, so engaging, descriptive, her characters felt like REAL people. Her writing was so accessible. I dont read alot of mysteries and going forward im definitely am this has given me the bug. The realtionships are built so organically and beautifully. I absolutely adored Sade, Persephone and Bas, theyre all written so beautifully. I loved the slowburn relationship cause it grew so well.

This is gonna be one of those books i nag everyone to read.

Chloé

Ace of spades has been rotting away on my shelves for years and just haven’t got to it, I read this one first cause of a bookclub and im so glad i did and now Ace Of Spades has been bumpt up on my TBR cause Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé writing is beyond this world, so engaging, descriptive, her characters felt like REAL people. Her writing was so accessible. I dont read alot of mysteries and going forward im definitely am this has given me the bug. The realtionships are built so organically and beautifully. I absolutely adored Sade, Persephone and Bas, theyre all written so beautifully. I loved the slowburn relationship cause it grew so well.

This is gonna be one of those books i nag everyone to read.

After discovering Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé through Ace of Spades when I heard that she had another book out I knew that I was going to dive into this one and get immersed into a dark academia and this one once again kept me on my toes throughout the book with the endless twists and turns and trying to work out where the book was going to go.

Sleeping Girls Lie is about new girl Sade doing her third year in a new boarding school and after her first night she realises that her roommate Elizabeth has disappeared. This book takes us on Sade journey on trying to work out the mystery on what happened to Elizabeth but along the way finding out that the prestige Nobel Academy is not all it’s cracked up to be and has a lot of hidden secrets that it seems need to be revealed.

The dark academia settings worked well for this one and I could really picture the boarding school settings so vivid in my head. The atmosphere felt tense, grey and heavy and really held my attention. The author did a fantastic job with creating and developing the full range of characters in this one I adore Sade, Persephone and Basil and following on their journey throughout the book.

This was such a heavy read, but I couldn't put the book down and just had to get to the end. The last 20% felt like a whirlwind, one completely unexpected twist and all the explaining of the unanswered questions throughout the book had me on the edge of my seat! This is the perfect YA Mystery / thriller.

Ian Brakspear

After discovering Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé through Ace of Spades when I heard that she had another book out I knew that I was going to dive into this one and get immersed into a dark academia and this one once again kept me on my toes throughout the book with the endless twists and turns and trying to work out where the book was going to go.

 

Sleeping Girls Lie is about new girl Sade doing her third year in a new boarding school and after her first night she realises that her roommate Elizabeth has disappeared. This book takes us on Sade journey on trying to work out the mystery on what happened to Elizabeth but along the way finding out that the prestige Nobel Academy is not all it’s cracked up to be and has a lot of hidden secrets that it seems need to be revealed.

 

The dark academia settings worked well for this one and I could really picture the boarding school settings so vivid in my head. The atmosphere felt tense, grey and heavy and really held my attention. The author did a fantastic job with creating and developing the full range of characters in this one I adore Sade, Persephone and Basil and following on their journey throughout the book.

 

This was such a heavy read, but I couldn't put the book down and just had to get to the end. The last 20% felt like a whirlwind, one completely unexpected twist and all the explaining of the unanswered questions throughout the book had me on the edge of my seat! This is the perfect YA Mystery / thriller.

i knew this would be my favorite from the moment i read the first few paragraphs 

it has everything i’m looking for in a book and more SOOO EXCELLENT 🤌🏼

Honestly I didn’t know anything about this book before deciding to read it. I simply thought the cover was gorgeous. However, I wasn’t disappointed in the slightest. I’m obsessed with the storytelling and its delivery. I was drawn in almost immediately and stayed invested the entire way through. There wasn’t a single moment where I thought it was boring or stagnant. I appreciate the introspective nature of it but also the analysis of prestige academia and the harms of these kinds of environments. There was a lot of commentary regarding pressing topics that I enjoyed, and I think the way these topics were introduced was organic and true to real life. This is a story that should be told and validated. While this is a fiction, there are far too many real life examples to pull from.

Nik ✨

3.5 stars - Faridah ate with this! A very important book that deals with crucial topics such as the ugly truths within institutions who fail - and, honestly, refuse - to protect those who are not afraid to speak up about unjustices, while the perpetrators are being protected. While the plot, characters, and the chemistry between the characters were great, the pace was a tad bit slow. By the time reveals were made, I was a bit checked out and wasn't as engaged as I was at the beginning of the book. I was very much invested in the morse code and the anagram, and managed to crack both before their reveal. Although these didn't contain a big twist as I'd hoped (imo), these two components make the book engaging and even more enjoyable. I'd definitely recommend this and can't wait to read more of the author's work

Joy KBA

it's haunting, it's disturbing, it's harrowing, but it's also sweet and filled with love 

Where Sleeping Girls Lie

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